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5/5/2008
Update:
The new rear differential is in! The old Solstice 3.91 with the leaky pinion seal has been replaced with a CTS-V 3.42 with a new pinion seal. I got the CTS-V rear diff. a while back and have just been waiting to put it in. I cleaned/primed/painted it, replaced the pinion seal and front housing (per recall notice) and filled it up with new synthetic oil. It went in relatively easy. There was a slight modification needed to the front mount adapter. Apparently between '05 and '06 the housings changed about an 1/8 of an inch by the front mount. But, after removing the excess material everything fit just fine. Other than that difference the diff's were identical from the outside.
The new ratio is working out well so far. 1st gear is now useful for things other than smoke. Also, my mileage should be even better. Cruising down the highway at 70mph the motor runs at 1500rpm.
The pinion seal kit is GM Part # 19179933 with a list price of $95.77. With the discount I got it for about $60. Unfortunately, the dealerships will not just give you the parts for the recall. It is a very easy diy job.
I'll post pics of the whole process later this week.
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4/23/2008
Update:
I've been driving the car full time for about a week now, couldn't be happier. Everything is running fine. Got the rear differential seal kit on order to upgrade my CTS-V diff. I'll swap that in over the next few weeks. Things to note:
-Mileage so far is 23-25 highway, and about 15 city (and playing around). 70 mph in 6th gear is around 1800 rpm.
-Motor runs at 180 deg. on highway and 210 at a standstill (in 75deg. weather).
-Had a bad TPS sensor (kept putting my car in limp mode). Replaced the sensor and cured all problems.
I'll try to get some new pics up before too long.
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4/2/2008
Update:
Wiring harness has been done for a few weeks. Everything is working! Runs/sounds great. New K&N filter on it's way. Just need to put the fenders/fender liners and cowl trim/wipers back in. Still waiting for the weather to clear up, should be driving it in a few weeks.
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3/14/2008
Quick update:
Hoping to have this thing back on the road mid April, the roads should be in decent shape by then, as well as the weather. The things left to do before then are:
-Finish wiring harness (just a few more wires and i'm DONE!)
-reinstall the oil pressure sensor
-bleed brakes/clutch
-fill all fluids
-install temp. air intake until carbon fiber one is complete (hopefully)
-have rear differential serviced (according to recall notice)
Hoping to start it up, for the first time with the new harness, next week sometime. Wish me luck.
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3/2/2008
Got a good portion of the wiring harness done this weekend. Need to order a few things (wire, pins, etc.) to be able to finish it up by next weekend, hopefully. So far, it is going really well.
Waiting for spring...
Overall harness
PCM wires
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2/28/2008
The interior is finally complete. Just had to tidy some things up and install the dash for the last time. The new gauges still look great, the stock shifter is back in. Also, started making my new wiring harness tonight, this will take me at least a week or so to complete, as this is my first LS1 harness from scratch. Wanted to do this to allow moving the PCM and to replace all of the factory stuff as it is 6+years old. In general it will be a vast improvement over what I started with and for $400 plus my time it's not too bad of a deal. (Photo quality is lacking, I only have my cell phone right now)
Interior w/ new gauges and stock shifter back.
Future harness in a box.
The start of the harness, as far as I could get tonight.
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2/11/2008
Well, it's been quite a long time since I've updated, so here goes. I drove the car as my daily driver for about 3 weeks before putting it into winter storage. It's a blast to drive and gets looks/questions everywhere you go. Can be a bit of a handful in the rain. Even on the dry pavement punching it in any of the first 3 gears will easily cut the tires loose, it's great!
Since it's in storage I decided to work on cleaning things up a bit, there's always something to do. Some of the things done are as follows:
-new fender liners
-new hoodpad
-new brake line (damaged in accident)
-new chrome rim/tire
-relocated LS1 PCM w/ custom mount
-made throttle coolant bypass
-new heater hoses
-GM hose clamps all around (going for stock look)
-finished custom dash wiring
-new shifter adapter (allows use of stock shifter/boot/trim
-made cover for unused a/c port on firewall
-installed radiator trim cover/bumper pad
-rerouted coolant lines
-rebent dipstick tube to clear hood
-installed hardened manifold bolts
-capped unused vacuum lines
-installed new water temp. sensor/adapter
-installed A.I.R. covers on manifold
-hid new dash wiring
-reinstalled all interior trim
-mounted LS1 PCM connector in glovebox
-bought all connectors/pins/etc. for making custom engine harness (if anyone needs part numbers/where to get them, let me know)
Things left on the list for this spring are:
-making my own custom engine harness to allow moving the PCM and for later integration with Solstice ECM
-all stainless exhaust and possibly headers
-custom battery cables
-custom carbon fiber air intake
-polish body panels
There's a lot more planned for next winter as well, we'll see how this year goes first. Here are just a few pictures (new PCM location and stock shifter back in place of Hurst shifter).
PAGE 1: 2009 pics/videos
PAGE 2: 2008 pics/videos
PAGE 3: 2007 pics/videos
